Page 19 of Thin Ice

“Kinsley? Are you okay?” Joe’s tone was frantic when he answered.

“This is Abby Temple. I’m with your sister.” Abby told him where they were. “Can you suggest someplace out of the way to meet?”

Silence followed. “There’s a small park off Highway 267 before you get to Wolf Trap. It’s been in disrepair for years. No one uses it anymore. Find a place to leave your vehicle out of sight. I’m—“ He paused for a second. “Half an hour out.”

“Thanks, Joe. We’ll see you there.” Abby ended the call with only a slight amount of confidence Joe would make it to them in time.

???

“This looks like the place” Brookes spotted the battered park sign near the entrance. He squinted through the windshield searching for somewhere to leave the van out of sight but didn’t find one. There were several hiking trails. None large enough to drive on, though.

“What about past the park?” Abby suggested.

Brookes drove on a little way. A vacant field spread out before them. He studied it carefully. The countryside showed signs of recent snowfall, which meant the field could be soggy if the ground wasn’t frozen. “I’ll see if I can drive out on it and maybe reach the back of the park from here.”

He eased the van off the road. The tires crunched along the uneven ground toward the back of the park. The silence inside the vehicle was broken only by something outside that captured Brookes’s immediate attention.

“Someone’s coming.” Abby heard it as well. “It could be Joe.” But she wasn’t convinced either.

He punched the accelerator as hard as possible under the conditions. Several times, it took all his driving skills to keep from burying it in places.

The woods went on beyond the pasture. There was no way they could afford to keep going and not be spotted from the road.

“There.” Abby pointed to an opening near the park. “We can fit the van in there.”

He nosed the vehicle through the opening while branches scraped along the side. Regret soared in his heart. Hannah would be getting her van back in far worse condition, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d do his best to repair it once the war with Legion ended. Maybe even take some of his savings and buy her a new one.

Once he’d covered enough space to get the van out of sight, he parked and turned to Abby. “I’m going to check to see who’s driving by.”

Abby got out with him and together they crept to the entrance of the park.

A patrol car drove past them at barely a crawl.

Abby reached for his hand. “Please keep going,” she prayed.

Brookes pulled in a breath as the patrol stopped near the road. “That’s where we turned off. They’ve spotted our tracks.”

The driver got out and went over to examine them along with his partner.

“They’ll search the park soon enough. Our best plan is to keep moving,” Brookes whispered. “I sure hope Kinsley is up to it.”

Brookes started for the van when Abby grabbed his arm. “There’s another patrol coming.”

He turned in time to see the second car stop behind the first. A man got out. Brookes recognized him right away. “That’s Tom.”

Though he couldn’t hear the conversation, it took only a matter of minutes before the officers driving the first patrol got into their vehicle, turned around, and headed back the way they’d come.

Abby shot him a look of pure relief. Once the patrol car was out of sight, they headed to the edge and met up with Tom.

“How’d you find us?” Brookes asked and shook the officer’s hand.

“A guess. This place hasn’t been maintained in years. It’s a good spot to get out of sight.”

“Thanks for saving us back there.” Brookes noticed a dark SUV heading toward them.

“Are you expecting company?” Tom watched the vehicle’s progress.

“Possibly, or it could be part of the people looking for us.” Abby shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun on the snow-covered world.

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